It's not easy being green, Pilgrim

And it sure isn't easy being an Asian American female, either. If you Google "Asian women", the first few results are Asian women fetish sites or "How to date, romance or marry an Asian Woman. Must-have knowledge for any non-Asian man". It's good to know that we're sex toys that need to be manipulated and tricked into a non-Asian man's bed, at least based on Google's results.

Search for "Asian-American women" on the other hand and the results are vastly different. The third result is a CNN article about how Asian-American women are prone to suicide and depression because of the pressure of being the "model minority" and an Asian woman. Asian-American women are painted as torn between cultural tradition and capitalistic pressure. These women suffer low self-esteem and identity crises at an early age. While this picture isn't far from the truth, I feel like it is slightly extreme. If the ending were any different, I would imagine CNN would be telling the world how Asian American women are frail and need to be saved. Throwing in the last few lines about how most Asian American women have overcome is positive, but I don't think it's fully explored.

Now I see a couple problems with this. 1) The "model-minority" usually applies to Chinese/Japanese/Korean/Filipino Asians. Vietnam, Laos, India, Singapore, Indonesia, and Thailand are just a "small" sampling of Asian countries that are ignored for those stereotypes. Some justify this by saying that India doesn't count because India was a British colony and Indians don't look "Asian" enough (translation: they're not pale skinned with tiny eyes). As for the other countries, they aren't "model"-esque. Many Asians are not middle/high class doctors, lawyers, and accountants with Ivy League degrees. However, those that aren't are simply overlooked and ignored. That or they own a restaurant or a laundromat. The dirt poor Asians suffering are simply a shame to their Asian culture and should pull themselves up, just as the model-minority Asians did. The poor are seen as faulty or flawed instead of victims to bad luck or a different wide variety of circumstances.

Now add all of these pressures together: academic success, corporate success, behavioral success, shame, and tradition and you have a pretty cocktail for a messed up group identity. Both American and Asian cultures emphasize success and respect. How the cultures cope and go about attaining this success, though, is drastically different. Maybe Asian Americans need to find a balance between the pros of both cultures. If we could learn to love ourselves more and remove the shame, some of the pressure could very easilly be relieved.